The representation of Christoph Waltz of Standartenführer (SS Colonel) Hans Landa Inglourious Basterds (2009) remains one of the best performances of a film by Quentin Tarantino, 16 years later. Waltz, who initially joined the European cinema and television industry at the end of the 1970s, received international attention when he played in the film Black Comedy War in Tarantino, an alternative to the Second World War and the Holocaust. Three years after the release of Inglourious Basterds, Waltz has collaborated once again with Tarantino, depicting Dr. King Schultz Django Unchained. The two films won the Waltz Academy Awards for the best support actor. In Django UnchainedSchultz is a German premium hunter who teams up with a newly armed slave, Django (Jamie Foxx), with Django’s main objective being to find and bring together with his enslaved wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).
Inglourious Basterds The waltz propelled to international celebrity, although the role of Hans Landa has almost gone to someone else. Tarantino spent more than 10 years working on the film script and made Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), and Proof of death (2007) during breaks to work on Inglourious Basterds. As the film was ready to be thrown, Tarantino strongly considered the hiring of Leonardo DiCaprio to play Landa (Adam Sandler and Simon Pegg were also considered for the roles of Donny Donowitz and Archie Hicox, respectively). In the end, Tarantino decided to throw Waltz as Landa, largely because Waltz, an Austrian-German actor who also owns American citizenship, speaks English, German and French. While DiCaprio is a solid actor in its own right, no one could have represented Landa like Waltz.
Christoph Waltz was masterful like Hans Landa
Hans Landa, otherwise known as “The Jew Hunter”, is the main antagonist of Inglourious Basterds (Aside from Adolf Hitler, of course, although it is only briefly presented). As a high -ranking civil servant for the SS, Landa’s work during the early stages of the Holocaust, as history reflects, was to bring together as many Jews as possible for extermination.
Three years after intentionally allowed a French Jewish woman named Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) to escape, Landa is involved in assassination plots formed by two resistance groups: Shosanna and her lover, Marcel (Jacky Ido), and a group of Jewish American soldiers led by Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt).
As one of Tarantino’s best characters, Landa is cold and morally uninhabitable, but always intriguing and engaging (not only with other characters Inglourious BasterdsBut also with the public). Landa knows that her intentions and her agenda are corrupt, but he doesn’t care – as long as Landa achieves his objectives with the most desirable personal result, he continues to live with satisfaction. Landa is violent, but rarely physically: Colonel SS does not increase his terrifying reputation with the fists, but rather in words. Landa is one of those characters whose MO is apparent only based on the uniform alone, which makes what will happen (or perhaps not knowing, for new viewers) even more kept.
The representation of Waltz de Landa in Inglourious Basterds Looking among all Tarantino’s films due to perfect facial expressions, eye movements and actor’s reactions in conversations. Landa is perhaps a high-ranking Nazi, but he commands the screen from the first minute to aura and intelligence alone. This atmosphere follows Landa throughout Inglourious Basterds Thanks to all the small details that Waltz has put in his representation – everyone that the character is intentionally in order to achieve a kind of result, stressing the importance of delivery and the objective of acting. Throughout this Tarantino film, Waltz surpasses everyone and easily dominates each scene, with Landa who really comes to life with frightening precision.
Inglourious Basterds has presented many scenes inducing anxiety
Tarantino Inglourious Basterds Provides a narrative masterclass from start to finish. In fact, the opening scene between Landa and Perrier Lapadite (Denis Ménochet) perfectly sets the tone and is one of the best scenes in the film (and perhaps one of the best openings in the film). The tension between Landa, Lapadite and the daughters of Lapadite is thicker than molasses, despite all the sung praises of Landa. The intentional change between English and French is not only performed perfectly, but truly adds something to the film (instead of the characters who simply change between languages without apparent reason). Between the accumulation of music and the possible confession of Lapadite, the opening scene and the introduction of Landa are masterfully directed.
Another fantastic scene of Inglourious Basterds (Although it is certainly difficult to choose a couple) is the disastrous meeting between Hicox (Michael Fassbender), Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger) and Wilhelm Wicki (Gedeon Burkhard). The group is immediately found in a pickle when he realizes that the bar is full of Nazi soldiers, another initial humorous achievement which dissolves quickly in a strong tension inducing panic. Like the opening scene of Tarantino’s film, it is the slight gestures and the remarks without distrust that end up propeling the intrigue, which makes a good watch.
Of course, Inglourious Basterds would not be as successful as without its final culminating scene and the consequences. With everyone locked up in Shosanna’s theater, no one escapes from the first of Nazi Germany The pride of the nation (A film-Within-A-Film based on Fredrick Zoller, depicted by Daniel Brühl), including Hitler and Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth). With the plans of Shosanna and Aldo in finally collision (although the two do not work with each other), everyone has a unique role in the combined operation, in particular Smithson “Little Man” Utifich (BJ Novak) and Omar Ulmer (Omar Doom). Like all other Tarantino films, the last moments of Inglourious BasterdsIn which Landa finally obtains what comes to him are full of violence, blood and explosives.
How Hans Landa compared to Dr. King Schultz
Inglourious Basterds And Django Unchained are two Tarantino projects which are obviously different, although Landa and Schultz share certain similarities. In what could be considered the euphemism of the century, neither Landa ni Schultz is a character in the eyes of a doe full of happiness and innocence (although Schultz is most morally healthy of the two). While Landa’s only objective is to fulfill his role as Nazi officer, Schultz, who left dentistry to become a bonus hunter, despises slavery and releases Django, although partially for his own advantage. Landa and Schultz are not afraid to fight and are certainly familiar with the fighting, although although the main act of violence of Landa Inglourious Basterds Is with his hands, Schultz knows how to get involved in a good old shooting.
Regarding the personality, Landa and Schultz overlap briefly, but above all exist at the opposite ends of the spectrum. As a Nazi and senior high -ranking official, Landa is someone who operates with selfish purposes and motivations. Despite millions of people confronted with a serious danger during the first years of the Second World War and the Holocaust, Landa is perfectly agreeing to close their eyes on all injustices if, in the end, it receives glory and power. Landa and Schultz consider themselves intelligent, charming and adaptable, but unlike Landa, Schultz has a deep feeling of justice and is generally motivated by the “good” recourse by justice.
That said, Waltz portrays Landa in Inglourious Basterds and Schultz in Django Unchained with similar shades. For the two characters, their impact is made through their facial expressions, their eye movements and their general arrangement. Instead of Waltz’s characters are led only by the script, they are animated through small gestures that have a great impact on the other characters, as well as the public. While everyone knows that Landa is not a hero, Schultz is not exactly a pure heart either – Waltz’s ability to portray human complexities, associated with its multilingual capacities, helps to raise its performance ten times, in particular with the management of Tarantino in the foreground.
What is the next step for Christoph Waltz and Quentin Tarantino?
Waltz’s most recent representations on television include Regus Patoff in The consultant (2023) and Sebastian “bash” in the course Only murders in the building Season 5, which was created on September 9, 2025. In the film plan, Waltz recently worked on two films with upcoming outings in North America: Priest in Luc Besson’s Dracula: A love story, and Harlander in the adaptation of Guillermo del Toro of Frankenstein.
Dracula: A love story was released in France on July 30, 2025 and reported $ 6.9 million in box office sales (just under 6 million euros); The film also features Caleb Landry Jones (Count Dracula). FrankensteinOn the other hand, features Oscar Isaac (Victor Frankenstein), Mia Goth (Elizabeth Lavenza), Jacob Elordi (the creature) and Lars Mikkelsen (Captain Anderson).
As for Tarantino, his latest feature was released in 2019, Once upon a time in Hollywood (with DiCaprio and Pitt). The rest of the film, The adventures of Cliff Boothwas written by Tarantino, who will also produce him alongside Pitt and David Heyman (Harry Potter)Stacey Sher (Django Unchained), and Ceán Chaffin, the wife of David Fincher and the frequent collaborator. The adventures of Cliff Booth Will be carried out by Fincher and is currently in production, the shooting should end in early 2026.
While Once upon a time in Hollywood is a great film, and its suite will undoubtedly have success according to the names attached to the project, it will be difficult for any future representation in a film by Tarantino to go beyond the representation of Waltz de Landa in Inglourious Basterds.
- Release date
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August 21, 2009
- Execution time
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153 minutes
- Producers
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Lawrence Bender
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Mélanie Laurent
Shosanna